"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..."

2011-11-22T08:35:00.001-08:00

I can't tell you how many times I've thought "I wish I had gotten that on film!" Well I just so happened to get one amazing little conversation recorded on my phone a few days ago. Brenna has a tendency to make up songs and they are always so cute! So when she started singing a little ditty about the Christmas tree and Jesus I snatched up my phone and started recording. She soon moved on from singing and started talking instead which lead into a sweet little conversation about the birth of Jesus, the power of Jesus and so on. A little memory that I'm glad I'll be able to go back and watch over again when my little Brenna Boo isn't quite so small. Lacey certainly chimed in a bit too! And Holly...my sweet little one was trying to sneak presents while we were talking...but no worries...Brenna as you will see, would never allow it! :)

2011-11-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

Fall is in the air and oh how I love it! I dislike what comes after fall but that's a completely different blog for another time! :) I love the apple picking, the wearing warmer clothes, the smell of fallen leaves, and I just love how pretty it is up here during Autumn. And this year our fall was even more special for me because I feel like as a family we made some really important and awesome decisions in regards to our faith walk! We decided as a family that we aren't going to celebrate Halloween anymore. There are many reasons behind our decision but the biggest and most important reason is this: We want to bring praise, honor and glory to Jesus Christ and him alone! As Christians we are called to live in this world but not be of the world. Do I think Christians who celebrate Halloween are wrong? No. I think it's a personal decision for everyone. As long as you listen to your heart and to what the Lord is telling you, your good to go! As for us, over the past couple of years conviction had really set in. It took me a couple of years to finally dive in the word and do the research before we made this decision. It wasn't an easy decision and it hasn't made my life any easier that's for sure! Especially with having young ones. I of course explained to Brenna and Lacey as good as anybody can why our family made this choice. They were absolutely fine with it...as long as they got some candy!hehe What can I say..they inherited their mama's sweet tooth. I know our choices go against the grain. Many people were just as shocked when we decided that we weren't doing the whole Santa Claus thing too. But in all of these choices we've made, I see opportunities to teach our children the truth. The truth about Jesus and his gospel, truth about the nature of mankind, and the truth about being more then readers of the Word but being doers of the Word and I think that is Awesome!

2011-10-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

We had just came home from the park. The girls had run around laughing, played on the swings for what must have been 20 minutes, played on the slide, see-saw, and ran with the dog. Everyone was happy and the Brenna and Lacey were in a particularly cheerful mood in anticipation of the snow we were expecting last night. I put in "Kipper: Let it Snow" movie in for the girls to watch while I started supper. Couldn't have been a more normal afternoon. But in a matter of minutes everything changed. I'm rinsing off a few dishes in the sink getting ready to load the dishwasher and I happen to look over into the living room. I see Brenna laying on the floor, head in a puddle of vomit. I quickly run over, shoo the dog away and start talking to her.
"Brenna are you okay? I see you just threw up. Talk to me sweetie...are you alright?"
She doesn't respond. She's staring blankly into space...a small tear in the corner of her eye. She's limp and starts to violently shiver. Asa is taking a shower because he's suppose to leave for work in 30 minutes. I yell at him to come in here quickly. He runs into the room and tries to get talk to her. She's the same. He looks at me.
"Mary, it looks like she had a seizure." So I pick her up. Wipe her face and hold her as tight as I can. She's shivering violently and groaning. My heart is breaking in two and I'm just begging God to protect my baby...while trying to not completely lose all control over my emotions. Lacey is asking me questions.
"Did Brenna throw up mommy? Why are you crying? What is daddy doing?"
Asa in the meantime runs into the bedroom gets dressed, tries to call his mom, but calls mine instead...wrong number because he grabbed my phone instead of his. Calls him mom, runs outside puts her booster seat in his truck. Runs back inside...dumps my wallet trying to find the insurance card. He grabs Brenna jumps into the truck and their gone.

At this point I put the movie back on, run into my bedroom and give myself the opportunity to sob and pray a little. Then I think...I need more prayers...I have to call mom. I run and get the phone. It's Asa's phone! He took mine! Mom just changed her number and it's not in Asa's phone! So I run to the computer and get on facebook and make a prayer request to all of my friends. I jump off the computer and find a bag. Throw in some clean clothes for Brenna and shoes since her clothes were dirty from throwing up and we didn't take the time to change her or put her shoes on. Then I grab her blankie and stuff it in the bag. I think, "I feel so helpless. I wish there was something else I could do." I run to the kitchen and take some hotdogs out of the freezer for the other two girls for their dinner. Longest 10 minutes of my life! I think I've gotten control of my emotions at this point then my mother in law pulls up...and my brother in law in his patrol car. Questions start being asked and i'm tearing up and panicking all over again. All I can think is, "Lord just help me to get there and help me to not lose all composure. I'm so scared God...please save my baby" Of course we hit every red light on the drive to the hospital. Mike makes me laugh a few times and I get control over my emotions again and am grateful! We walk into the emergency room, the nurse knows exactly who we are and leads us back to Brenna's room and I see her...I see my beautiful little baby sitting up in a hospital gown smiling and watching tv!! It was like the weight of the world was lifted off of my shoulders!!! Praise God she's Okay!

I run in. "Is she okay? What did the doctor say?"
"She hasn't seen the doctor yet. But the nurse took her temperature and she has a fever of 104. It's a good sign they said." he replied.

The doctor came in soon after and more and more good news kept coming. She had a Febrile seizure. They believe it was caused by the rapid rise in temperature. What caused the temperature we still aren't sure but he said he wasn't too concerned. She recovered quickly from the seizure. It can often takes up to an hour for a child to return to normal and it only took around ten minutes for Brenna. Also he said there are no lasting effects from these types of seizures although he did say that 30% of children who have these may have them again.

Today she's completely back to normal. No temperature and no other symptoms. Brenna and Lacey played in the snow this morning for over an hour and Brenna just kept saying over and over again, "I love snow!" with her cold rosy cheeks and ear to ear grin.

Last night was so scary but at the same time, looking back I can't help but be overwhelmingly grateful! There were soooo many people praying for my Brenna Boo and for us! Friends and family and complete strangers! People were calling each other and asking for prayer, prayer chains were started and people were sending us messages and voice mails encouraging us and telling us that they were praying. Family was at our house immediately to help with the girls and to help any way they could. Even though I really felt like for those 30 minutes after Brenna seized that I was in my darkest valley...I really felt God was there with me. Psalms 23:4 kept coming to mind during this time.

"Even though I walk
   through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
   they comfort me. "

Not only did I feel him there in my pain...I also felt him through all of my dear friends and family who dropped what they were doing and prayed and petitioned to our heavenly Father on our behalf. I just can't express how much it touched my heart. We are blessed beyond measure! God is Good!

Birthday Air Show

2011-10-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

My little Lacey is 3 now! Can you believe it! For her birthday this year we decided to celebrate at the air show! The Blue Angels came and oh what Fun are they!

The Birthday Girl

Brenna and her cousin Lily

The family waiting for the Blue Angels to start their show!

Man's best friend

2011-10-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

Man's best friend? In this house Kinley's more then that, he's Baby's best friend! Holly loves this dog so much! Almost as much as her Daddy! :)

2011-10-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

It's been quite some time since I've posted on here. It's been a very busy couple of months! As if the normal daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and taking care of the girls (and pup) don't keep me busy enough, I've also started homeschooling Brenna and Lacey this year which has been a lot of fun! And we found out a couple of weeks ago that we're going to be having another baby too! So exciting! Although I have to admit the excitement has been tempered quite a bit by all the nausea and exhaustion. haha! I'm looking forward to getting past this stage and feeling good again!

I've decided I'm going to try to update a little more frequently then once every 4 months but bare with me! On the list of priorities, this blog is...well last! -:) But I know a lot of my family down South (as well as some up here! <3 ) are missing my updates no matter how sporadic they may be so I will try!

These are pictures from apple picking two weeks ago. Aren't the girls getting big?! Growing like weeds!

2011-06-24T04:34:00.000-07:00

"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see."

~*~ Corrie Ten Boom ~*~

A vapor

2011-06-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

My Nana and Holly on our visit down to North Carolina. Nana is one of those women in my life who have always inspired me by through her strong and courageous faith. Jesus is currently carrying her through quite a few complicated health issues of which include bone and breast cancer. Some times it's hard to understand the Lord's will in our lives especially when we see the people we love suffer but through it all, God has been so faithful! And he has used my Nana so much in my own life. I can only imagine the impact she has had on others. Life is short...we have such a short time here on earth, Let's not waste the precious time we've been given! We are here on earth for one reason, to share the Love of Christ. Don't be ashamed of the truth that We KNOW to be true. We have precious little time to share it! A life time seems a long time when you are 15....as the years go by....it doesn't seem like such a long time anymore. It feels like just yesterday I was a child and now I am a mother to 3 of my own and nearly 30:) Time is flying by so quickly these days.

"whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." James 4:14

A new favorite past time...

2011-05-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

My sweet little Holly has officially lost a little bit of her sweetness! :) She's still as sweet as ever with her mommy and daddy. She is even sweet with the dog! It's a very common occurrence in our home to see her literally laying on the dog. She ADORES him! She's pretty sweet with Brenna boo too. To be honest it's just poor Lacey that has become the recipient of the sour behavior. Holly quite by accident one day discovered that if she takes Lacey's favorite bunny rabbit away from her she gets quite a loud colorful reaction with screaming, tears, and the works. I guess you can guess what this discovery has resulted in? Holly's new favorite pass time! The "let's annoy Lacey game"...so quite often during the day you'll find Holly running (well toddling really) down the hall laughing with Lacey's bunny in tow...with Lacey screaming bloody murder in the living room. Nothing cures one's boredom like teasing one's sibling I suppose! haha! And now it's expanding to not just the precious bunny but any and every thing Holly can get her hands on that Lacey is playing with. Oh joy...I don't remember my other two being such little stinkers to each other at 15 months! :)

No place like the Lords embrace

2011-05-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

The last month has been quite a challenge for me but in the midst of all of the uncertainties and emotions the Lord has made his presence so known! I struggle with how to express all that is inside of my heart right now. I can honestly say I thought I was stronger then I am! But I praise the Lord that he has used my weakness in spirit to extend his hand and give me strength and encouragement.

For 12 years, I've hated looking in the mirror. One day I woke up as a young teenager with some pimples and they never went away. They weren't so bad at first...a little make up and I felt like everyone else. In the years since however, they've actually slowly grown to the point that they are now...a point I never wanted to be at. The point where I feel very self conscious and I hate to feel that way! The Lord knows every hair on my head and I know deep down that he weeps with me when I cry even over something as small as this...although to be honest, it hasn't felt so small for me.

We finally know what they are which has been a blessing although some what of a mixed blessing at this point. I still feel as if I don't know a lot about what's going on. I have a very rare genetic disorder called Trichoepithelioma. It's so rare in fact that I still don't have a lot of answers. The dermatologist wouldn't even treat me. He sent me to a plastic surgeon without so much as a consultation to review the results. The first biopsy came back as a benign trichoepithelioma so we are very hopeful that they all are but did another biopsy for good measure. If it comes back with the same results most likely I will have all of the larger sized bumps removed. Unfortunately being that this is a genetic abnormality, I will have to deal with these things coming back for the rest of my life which I think has been one of the few hardest parts of the diagnosis. That and knowing that my baby girls could possibly have the same condition. But Praise the Lord that we now know what it is! I think the most heart wrenching part for me though has been my own emotions over the whole thing.. If this is something the Lord wants me to deal with for the rest of my life, I want to deal with it for HIS glory, and yet I find myself feeling at times so emotionally drained. I suppose 12 years could drain anyone...but it's not like I have terminal cancer or a failing heart, and so on...it's just a few benign growths. So right now I'm in a battle against my sinful nature which wants to wallow in self pity and hide from the world, and the other part of me that wants to share my struggle and let God use it...and me in whatever way he wishes. I do have to say how amazing it is that at my lowest I've ever been, God has been so faithful and attendant to me. I almost feel as if these bumps are such a small price to pay to feel such an embrace!! He is an awesome AWESOME God and I can't even begin to describe how baffling it feels some times to know that He loves little insignificant me so much!

I really don't know what the next few months will bring but I can say that whatever may come, I will praise the Lord and try to focus on my blessings! And friends, I would greatly appreciate your prayers as well!

It finally feels like Spring!

2011-05-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely in LOVE with spring! The past few days have been absolutely beautiful! We've gone for long walks, played in the dirt, decorated everything outside with colorful chalk, kicked soccer balls, blown massive amounts of bubbles, played at the parks, driven with our windows down, picked massive amounts of dandelions, gone out on the boat, cooked on the grill and the list just goes on and on! I have no idea how we managed to survive through winter this year but we did and now we're reaping the reward! I can't wait til Summer!!! :)

Burdened

2011-04-06T05:54:00.000-07:00

Pray is so important as a believer in Christ....and yet it is something that I have honestly always struggled with for many reasons. I spent my childhood reciting the same prayers over and over again...that was how I learned to pray. "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep..." Impersonal, repetitious, and meaningless. The line of communication between the Father and I was heart felt yes, but not as open or as close as I would have liked. I grew up in a church very much in tune with traditions and not so much a close relationship with Christ...I always believed in Jesus and loved him, but felt like I could only approach him from a safe distance if that makes any sense. As I've gotten older, my relationship with the Father has certainly grown but my awkwardness and uneasiness with prayer has always remained to one extent or the other and has always caused me problems. It's been one of my biggest personal struggles. I've often struggled in my mind with thoughts like: "Are my prayers truly sincere?" "Am I praying just because I'm suppose to and not because I want to" "Is what I pray about selfish? Annoying?" "Am I doing this right?" "Is he even listening?" I know I'm not the only one who's struggled this way. A matter of fact, I'm beyond positive I'm one of many. I know I have so much left to learn and it can be hard not to beat myself up for still being such a "baby Christian" after all of these years. But I also know that all these thoughts and insecurities in me are not of the Lords doing but that of the evil one. Satan wants me to give into these feelings and emotions. He wants me to feel inadequate and hopeless. The struggle has become all the more apparent to me the past few weeks. The Lord has been burdening my heart to join our church Bible study for quite some time. I went a few times a few years back and enjoyed it except for the prayer part. I found it awkward feeling having to prayer in front of people and just as awkward not praying. I did it anyway with sweaty palms, stumbling over words, and stomach in my throat because I felt that if I didn't attempt, I'd never be able to feel comfortable doing it. And then of course I found an array of excuses to not have to go. Not that having a new baby once every year and early bed times aren't a pretty decent one...but excuses none the less. Then one day the Lord burdened my sister in law to offer to babysit on Tuesday nights so that we could go to Bible study...and I say burdened lightly here because it really is NO burden for her at all! :) She loves spending time with the girls! But through her offering to watch them, God took that one excuse I was holding on to and basically destroyed it! And what a blessing this has become for me! I still struggle. My anxiety level certainly increases as soon as it's time for prayer. But it feels different this time for me. I can see in the distance a different me. It's still far off but God can certainly change me from the inside out I'm sure! I just have to be open for him to do that! And through this change of heart (and through our Tuesday night fellowship) I've also realized something else about myself. I've become complacent. M brother has been struggling for quite a few years with addictions, losses of jobs, homelessness, and so on. I love him so much and yet a simple question was asked last night. "When was the last time you were burdened to pray?" When was the last time I felt like I should pray for John...and I couldn't recall. How sad...how horrible! Conviction stings! How can I be an effective Christian if I can't even pray for someone as dear to me as my own flesh and blood brother?! I am now asking the Lord to burden me to pray for John and it is my hope that through my prayers and petitions for my brother, he will find salvation and truly let the Lord change him from the inside out. I of all people know that is easier said then done, but I also know with all my heart that the Lord can do it! And Wants too!! The only thing that has held me back from a close personal relationship with Christ was myself and my own insecurities and fears. I don't have to be a slave to myself because HE is bigger then all that has been holding me back!

♥ The Birthday Girl ♥

2011-04-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Brenna getting ready to blow our her candles!

Brenna's first bike

2011-03-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

We decided to get Brenna a bike for her birthday this year. She LOVES it!

Happy Birthday to my big girl!

2011-03-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

It seems like just yesterday that I was venturing into the new uncharted world of being a Mom. I'll never forget the first moment I laid eyes on my Brenna boo...my sweet little baby. The instant overwhelming love...I can't believe it's been 4 years! It's funny how fast time flies when your having fun! There's something special about a first born though. With my other little ones, the memories are a little less clear...a little more fuzzy...but with Brenna I feel like I can remember almost every thing from those first few sweet months. I had nothing to do but love her and hold her and stare at her...ahh such sweet precious memories. Today the little girl who turned me into Mommy is growing up right before my eyes! Full of opinions, thoughts, and ideas! She's never stingy with hugs and kisses and is truly one of the sweetest little girls I know! She's such a blessing to me and I'm so grateful the Lord gave me a chance to be her Mommy! Happy 4th birthday Brenna Boo! Mommy loves you!

Brenna maybe 8 hours old

Brenna's 1st Birthday

Brenna's 2nd Birthday

Brenna's 3rd Birthday

My Big 4 year old!

❀❁ Tea Party ❁❀

2011-03-28T04:10:00.000-07:00

My Girls having a tea party! Nothing better to do on a cold day then have a spot of tea eh? Please note Lacey's hat! haha She's obsessed with this hat. She would wear it to bed if I let her!

Messy Fun!

2011-03-23T06:01:00.000-07:00

There is nothing more fun then getting your hands dirty especially when it comes to my girls! Finger painting is a favorite around here. With having a house full of little girls you'd think I'd have at least one priss-pot out of the bunch but rest assured we do not! If given the opportunity, all three of my girls would roll around in a mud puddle like little piggies I'm sure! By the time we were done with painting, the girls looked like they had war paint on but it worked out for the best because the girls got their bath time done early and that's never a bad thing!

2011-03-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

What I get to wake up to every morning! So blessed!

Ephesians 3:14-20
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the believers, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen

Our St. Patricks Day

2011-03-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

We've never done any anything special for St. Patrick's day...well besides wear green of course! This year I thought it would be fun to be a little more festive!! As soon as the girls woke up we started off the day watching one of our favorite Veggie Tales movies which happens to have a short cartoon about St. Patrick. We spent the rest of the day making all sorts of green decorations, making rainbow cupcakes, and cooking corned beef & cabbage. For dinner we invited the family over and enjoyed some yummy Irish food and one of my favorite movies of all time "Waking Ned Devine". I wouldn't mind making this a St. Patty's day tradition! We had so much fun!

♣ Lucky to be me♣

2011-03-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Holly on St. Patty's day!

One of those...

2011-03-15T17:03:00.001-07:00

I was out with my girls the other day and started talking to a mom I had just met. She commented on the girls and how "she didn't know how I did it" to which I replied, "I love it and would have 3 more if I could.." To which she replied with such a look of disdain, "I've heard of women like you..." And i couldn't help but chuckle inside...women like me. I guess in this day and time I'm not the norm. Actually I'm far from it. I'm teaching my children that life isn't about the "me/myself/and I" concept that is so prevalent these days. It's about loving each other and most importantly loving the Lord. Through growing up with siblings, they're learning about how the Lord loves us in a personal way through forgiveness and understanding. I believe children are gifts from God! Why wouldn't I want more? :)

3 Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. ⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. ⁵ Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. Psalm 127:3-5

I'll be the first to admit some days are hard, but at the end of the day there is nothing I'd change, well except that they wouldn't grow up so incredibly fast! I know how greatly I've been blessed! And I also know that these little children are in my charge for only a short time. 18 years seems like a long time when your young...but when your a mom...4 years feels like a blink of an eye...I can only imagine how fast the next 14 will go.

The Lord makes us all different for a reason...we all have our own little niches to fill in God's plan. One of my hopes is that my children grow up living this:

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2a"

Our society is so stuck on being like everybody else in whatever it may be: whether it be the sanctity of marriage, the television one watches, the music you listen to, how you dress, how you treat your body, how you treat each other, having the right car, the big house, the perfect sized family...I mean the list can go on and on...but I don't want my children to feel like they have to fit in with this world. A matter of fact, i don't want them to! I want them to be able to function in our world yes, but I also hope they stay true to who they really are...children of a loving heavenly Father and their home...my home is not here.

So that is why I chuckle inside when people look at me in horror when I say I'd love to have more children, I'm a stay at home mom,I home school, and I'm Happy! For them it's quite a quandary...for me it's a calling. I know I'm where the Lord wants me to be.

Hair Bows and Babies

2011-03-09T15:05:00.000-08:00

I'm back! Well sort of anyway :) This blog still isn't going to be top priority by any means BUT I can't help share what's been going on my life for the past few months! Lots of fun stuff! My most favorite venture thus far? I'm making hair bows! And not only am I making them, I'm selling them too! Well trying to anyway...I haven't sold hardly any yet. Just to family. But Lord willing I'll sell a few. I have such fun making them, and if I ever sell any...I'm hoping I can give some money to one of my favorite charities called CareNet! That was really the whole point to this venture to begin with. If you want to visit my etsy shop click the picture below!

The other big news of the year...probably the BIGGEST I'd say is that as of Sunday, Asa and I have decided that we're going to expand our family again in a couple of months! A shocker to some maybe...but probably not to most! :) As the people who know me the most know, I've been wanting to have another one since...well since I had Holly! Asa on the other hand...not so much. Asa knew my feelings on the subject but seemed adamant on waiting until we fixed up the house, sold the house, and moved into a bigger place. So I had to let it go and Let the Lord handle it. I knew I couldn't change Asa's heart, nor did I want to. The last thing I wanted to do was to force something on Asa that he didn't want...I knew no matter how deep my desire was to have another child...I couldn't be selfish about it either. Lord willing it would happen...and if not, I was going to try my hardest to be content because I am so blessed after all! I have three amazing little girls and Asa...words can describe how grateful I am that the Lord gave him to me. I love that man so much. Not a week after coming to this conclusion I'm sitting on the sofa quietly reading a book and Asa says, "I think we should have this last baby" I questioned his sincerity immediately and made him repeat himself and reassure me he wasn't joking...and he wasn't! He was (and is) completely serious!!!! So now i'm reading a book about how to have a boy...and I'm learning how to track my ovulation. After I figure it all out, in a couple of months we're going to try to have ourselves a boy!! Yay! I'm so excited!!

Blogging Break

2011-01-21T17:01:00.000-08:00

Well as I'm sure you have all noticed blogging hasn't been a top priority for me the past few months. There is just so much life going on! As much as I convinced myself that blogging was important I'm starting to find that the less I blog the better I feel. The Lord has been working wonders in my heart here lately and I find that maybe blogging about the girls and my days needs to be a little less important. There are a ton of great memories on this ol' blog..memories that I'm glad I've written down to save...but I want our life be a testament to God and although this blog certainly isn't against that, I still find myself questioning my real motivations for blogging...is it for God or for me? So in order to answer that question and just for me to not be thinking "this will make a good blog" after every little thing we do (haha!) i think I'm going to take a blogging break. I don't know how long but I do know that my motivations are simple. I want the Lord to use me...and I don't know exactly what this has to do with my blog other then maybe me dieing to self a little. But for whatever reasons, to the 4 or 5 people who actually read my blog (ha!) don't fret. Life is great! God is faithful and amazing! I'm not gone for good...just gone for now :)

Heaven

2011-01-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

Today we talked about how God and Jesus are one. We talked about how Jesus helped God make the world and then was born on Christmas so that he could die for our sins so that we could go to heaven too one day. We then talked about John 14. Jesus was speaking to his disciples about Heaven. In heaven there are many homes. Beautiful homes for us! Jesus also told his disciples that where ever he went, they would go too! I asked Brenna what she thought heaven would be like. She said "Heaven is full of lollipops and puppies!" Not the first time I've heard that answer I must say! :) I guess after having Kendly Brenna STILL thinks Puppies are pretty wonderful! I wish I could say the same! haha We also talked about Triangles, the letter A, the number 1, and our address. We made sock puppets to help us learn our addresses. I knew I wasn't holding on to all of those mismatched socks for nothing! haha

God is always there

2011-01-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

On our second day of school we talked about how God is always there for us whenever we need him. He never takes a vacation or goes to sleep. We also talked about what we learned on Monday again and went over our memory verse for the week. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" Genesis 1:1. The girls started asking all sorts of questions about Heaven which led to an awesome conversation about Heaven, Jesus, and Salvation! It was fun showing them pictures of people that I love who are in heaven and talking about how if we have Jesus in our heart, we can some day go to heaven too! We then went on to talk about Police and Firemen and how they are always there too in a different sort of way. How if we ever need help we can call 9-1-1 and there will always be a police officer or firefighter who can help us. Hopefully one day soon we'll be able to take a little field trip to Daddy's work and see a police car :)

Our First Day of School

2011-01-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

Brenna and Lacey drawing a picture of their Daddy

Lacey's "world"

Brenna's "world" It was hard to get her to stay still! A tad bit blurry but it's the best I could get! :)

What a wonderful first day of school! I was so pleased at how well the girls did. They had a blast! Today we learned that God is our heavenly father. Much like our Daddy's here but Bigger and Greater! We talked about how he created the earth and the world we live in. How he made all the animals, plants, and people we see. How he knows everything, sees everything, and loves us so much! We then talked about our own Daddy's and how God gave them to us too! We learned about the letter A, the number 1, how to use scissors, and how to hold a pencil correctly. We learned some new songs too! It was sooo much fun!

School Days

2011-01-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

We for a long time now have been planning on home schooling the girls. There are many many reasons why we have decided to do this. One of the biggest reasons being we want Jesus to be the foundation for our girls education. Just for that reason alone it is well worth the time and effort! Tomorrow is our first real day of school with a curriculum and I'm so excited!! Here's our little "class room". I spend all day in the kitchen anyway so we might as well do school in there too!

Happy New Years

2010-12-31T19:29:00.000-08:00

As this year comes to a close in a couple of hours and we ring in the new year I just want to take a little time to reflect on all the blessings and amazing things the Lord has done in my life this past year.

1. He's given me countless opportunities to grow and draw closer to him.
2. He's never given up on me even when I've given up on myself at times
3. He's taught me this year that I'm not perfect but forgiven. It's so easy to get frustrated at myself for not being as patient as I ought to be, or as disciplined as I ought to be, or as motivated, or as loving...list goes on and on...but through my faults I realize how much more I need Jesus to fill me up! I just hope it doesn't take until I die to get it all figured out :)
4. He's taught me that He's enough.
5. He's blessed me with a wonderful husband who loves us and takes care of us. And he's blessed me with three of the most sweetest little girls in the world!
6. He's blessed me with the opportunity to stay at home and take care of my sweet little girls! And even though some days it's down right hard to keep my sanity, I wouldn't trade it for the world!
7. He's given us a home that is warm and cozy!
8. He's given me the most amazing family ever! I have more sweet people in my life then I can even begin to name. Some blood family...some just love family :) But I'm blessed!

Those are a few...many more I could list...but it's nearly 11 now and quite frankly I'm exhausted! I have no desire to see that ball drop tonight! :) But i do wish you all a new year filled with blessings and the Peace that only our Savior can bring! Happy New Years!!

Christmas Time

2010-12-31T19:07:00.000-08:00

My little baby had a blast Christmas morning! Not so interested in opening presents or the toys...more interested in the wrapping paper. But that's not all too surprising. I remember Brenna and Lacey being the same way when they were Holly's age!We decided to get Brenna and Lacey a doll house this year. They seem to like it well enough. I think I like it more then them though! :) I'm glad the girls weren't so focused on the gifts after all anyway! Christmas is about God's gift to us, the gift of Jesus Christ...not about all the goodies we get or how many presents we get under the tree! I wish I could have taken more pictures but of course my camera battery was nearly dead. Thankfully i was able to get a few and even more lucky...my sister in law came to the rescue! She got a few really good ones of the baby and all of the cousins together! I'll share them as soon as I can!

Puppy Love

2010-12-31T19:04:00.000-08:00

Is this dog loved or what?!

Our Christmas Eve

2010-12-31T18:50:00.000-08:00

This year we had the most enjoyable and relaxing Christmas Eve ever! We spent our day just sitting around and watching Christmas movies and then we took the girls sledding at one of the parks in downtown Brunswick. What fun it was watching the girls faces! They just laughed and giggled like you wouldn't believe! Such a good day!

2010-12-21T16:42:00.000-08:00

Well I have to apologize for not blogging as of late. To be honest I really miss it! I feel like this is a way that I can record our life for my girls when their older! Life has just been beyond over whelming the past few weeks...with the peak being this week! Asa has been working a bit more then usual this month because of massive amounts of court among other things...add in a new puppy who certainly hasn't made my life any easier, christmas around the corner, and my beautiful and very vivacious little girls and I like to think just about any one would feel a little frazzled. But it's gone beyond that this week! This week it's been one disaster after another really. Last Thursday Lacey knocked over an entire glass of water on our laptop which totally stinks for many reasons. One big reason being all of my pictures are on that computer!! I'm just hoping and praying that the hard drive is still intact! Hopefully we'll be able to salvage my pictures even if the laptop is toast. Then while talking to my mother on my cell phone Saturday, the puppy jumps on me and knocks my phone into the dog water dish...*sigh* Amazingly enough my cell phone did recover after being kept in a bowl of rice for 24 hours...but obviously by this point Asa was more then a little annoyed at me! Oh and our toilet started leaking (which Asa was able to fix! Yay!) and today the corolla slid down sideways on our driveway in the snow..we got it out one dead lilac bush later oh and dented passenger side door...*sigh* things can only get better from here right? :) I mean really! So I do hope to blog some more here soon. I have to download my camera program onto the ancient desktop in our basement and invest in a pair of gloves that I can type with! haha It's COLD in this basement! Just bear with me! I'll get back into my blogging groove here soon! I hope to anyway!

Our New Puppy

2010-12-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

We finally took the plunge and got ourselves a dog. It's something we've thought about for a while although I don't believe we thought about it hard enough now that we have one! haha! I have so many fond memories of having dogs as a child but as most child hood memories are...there were a lot of things I didn't remember like how much time and attention a dog needs, or that they need to be walked and house broken, that they can't distinguish between dog toys and baby toys, and they like to eat poop! So many things I didn't give much thought about. Kendly is a sweet little puppy and I do have affection for the little guy but I have to admit he's made my life twice as hard! I do believe it would have been easier for me to just have had another baby! :) Babies I can do! Puppies is still open for debate! Having Kendly is a piece of cake when Asa is at home. He walks him, plays with him, and keeps an eye on him, wears him out...but like all good things...the puppy honey moon is over. Asa is back at work (and working a lot this month I might add!) and I now find myself with 3 kiddo's and a dog. A dog who sneaks out of my sight and chews up baby toys...a dog who is not yet fully house trained...a dog that requires lots and lots of exercise or he gets restless and hyper. So now my life has once again changed. Not necessarily for the worst. I'm sure it'll get easier as time goes on but for the time being very very busy. And to think...I use to think I looked forward to Asa's days off...now I REALLY do!!!

Going Exploring

2010-11-26T06:38:00.000-08:00

For years now I've heard about this abandoned house out in the woods behind my in laws house. I've always wanted to go see it but have never really had a chance. I finally got that chance! In all honesty it wasn't at all what I was expecting! I don't know what exactly I was expecting...something smaller...maybe made out of stone or old logs or something...but not what it was! It must have been a grand house back in it's day! It's been there quite some time too...I imagine it's 150 years old or older! It was funny to see Asa standing in the house and his head hitting the ceiling. It was built for people of smaller statures. Six foot tall men weren't so common back then I suppose! It was so neat to see it and imagine what it use to be like in better times. It was also a little sad to see the disrepair of it. It's hard to imagine some one letting the house deteriorate to the point it is now but it is in the middle of the woods and very hard to get to. It seems to have been a hangout for a lot of teenagers over the years as well. Graffiti covers the walls, beer cans scatter the floor and property, an old burnt out recliner sits beside the kitchen entrance, and old newspapers liter the floors. I just happened to take a picture of one from July 25, 1974 when my parents where in their late teens and early 20's! Not incredibly old but still neat.

The Plump And Perky Turkey!

2010-11-21T04:38:00.000-08:00

One of the girls and my favorite Thanksgiving books is The Plump And Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman. We decided to make Pete the turkey puppets and an Ebeneezer Beezer puppet and act out our book in the living room. The girls loved making the puppets. The puppet show didn't work out as well however. I think Lacey is still a bit young to put on a production but it was still fun even if our puppet show only lasted 2 minutes long!

2010-11-17T04:29:00.000-08:00

I know I know! My blogging has been a little slack as of late! I'm been having a hard time finding the time. But I promise I have not forgotten! Some times life just catches up with me and some things suffer thus why I'm finally done with Halloween posts a month later! haha Life hasn't been any more busy then normal I suppose. The daily grind of 3 sweet busy little girls, a house that never can stay clean, a laundry pile that I swear doubles by the hour, and a hubby who works a lot! He has to invest way more time in his job then I would have ever imagined! But a plus side, he had a short week this week because of an extra day off for our sweet nephews birthday AND no court so the girls and I are looking forward to spending some much needed quality time with him the next two days! The girls and I have been trying to take advantage of the really nice weather here the past few days. We've had quite a few good days mixed in the past two weeks. Wish I could say the same about today. It's awfully rainy and blustery out but I won't complain! Before long we'll be snowed in for months! Asa's last days off we took a walk out in the woods at Bowdoin Pines. It's always nice to get outside in the woods and we're very lucky to have a place to go where you don't have to worry about wearing orange during hunting season! :)

Wormy Treats

2010-11-13T04:18:00.000-08:00

Our special Halloween desert :) The girls thought they were so yummy! I on the other hand am not the Biggest Jello fan in the world but it was still fun to make and soo easy! A definite hit in my book!

Halloween

2010-11-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

A few pictures of the girls in their costumes. Brenna was sleeping beauty. She really wanted to be Ariel from The Little Mermaid but we couldn't find an Ariel costume anywhere! She must be very popular this year! Lacey had told us she wanted to be a bunny rabbit this year but as you can tell from the photos she refused to wear the bunny costume and insisted on wearing her bumble bee costume from last year. Gotta love 2 year olds :) But aside from Lacey's costume tantrum Halloween was so much fun! Nonnie and Grampy came to play with us (and baby sit the baby). We ate home made pizza for supper with a special Halloween desert and then went trick or treating around our little neighborhood which the girls LOVED! Every time they got candy put in their pumpkins they giggled with such delight! It feels like every hour since Halloween they girls ask if they can have some of their candy too! haha Little do they know...mama and daddy have kinda been helping them eat their stash so hopefully most of the candy will be gone in a week or so! Goodness I hope so! Having sweets around my house is NOT a good thing for me! And then when we got home from trick or treating we were surprised to find the girls cousins here! Brenna and Lacey adore their Maggie who happened to be the cutest cow girl I've ever seen!

Jack-o-lantern

2010-11-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

A quote from Brenna's favorite Halloween Story
The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin by Margaret Wise Brown

"Ho Ho Ho,
He He He,
Mice will Run
When they see me!"

Snuggle Bug

2010-10-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

Ms. Holly at 9 months :) I can't believe it! In just the past month she's learned to crawl (well army crawl that is! ), gotten her first 2 teeth, refuses all baby food, and is saying dada and all other assortments of silly baby noises! I love my little snuggle bug!

The beginning of Fall

2010-10-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back when the leaves started changing color we decided to take a little hike up Bradbury mountain to see the foliage. It was Holly's first trip up Bradbury! The leaves hadn't changed as much as we had hoped but it was still fun! Can't say the same now. The trees are nearly bare and it's getting cold! BRRR!

Allergies

2010-10-27T04:23:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you give my baby amoxicillin! Or fish...lol We're not quite sure yet. A blood test is soon to follow to determine what exactly gave my sweet little girl the hives but I'm pretty sure it was the pink stuff :) My poor little poopie! This was the first day when the Hives first showed up. It got worse! Her face got all swollen. She looked horrible! She was as happy as can be throughout the entire ordeal though so that is a positive and the hives was all that happened which is also another BIG positive. It could have been so much worse! I'm so grateful that the Lord was watching out for my little one and thankful for some pretty awesome doctors in North Carolina too who were very helpful!

YaYa's Pool

2010-10-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

I have two little water bugs on my hands! The weather was cooler then we would have hoped during our visit but we had two really good days for swimming and the girls definitely took advantage! The first day they swam for over a hour the second day they swam over 4 hours!!! They slept soooo good that night!!

Finally home!

2010-10-10T05:55:00.000-07:00

My Pawpaw, Holly, and Me

My Uncle Jim (Pawpaw's brother), Hayley (my cousins daughter) and Holly

Hayley and Holly

Wow has it been a long time since I've written a blog or what! We are finally back home safe and sound after being away for 14 days! It was a long time to be away from home (and the 17 hour drive was horrendous!) but it was so nice to see all the people that I love and miss sooo much! Here are a few snapshots of our visit with my Paw Paw and family on Dad's side. Like usual I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would have hoped but a few is better then nothing I suppose! I was too busy visiting :)

Out of the mouths of Babes

2010-09-23T04:30:00.000-07:00

A few Brenna quotes from the past month that make my heart smile
Brenna and Lacey are playing in the mudroom. They have their chairs side by side. Brenna looks over at Lacey and says, "I'm Mommy. It's time to go. Put on your seat belt. Jesus loves you and will keep you safe." Brenna obviously doesn't think much of my driving does she? haha

The girls and I are driving in the van to go grocery shopping. A squirrel darts across the street.
Brenna says, "Mama don't squish the squirrel!" she then pauses for a second and continues," But you can't squish Jesus!"

Brenna and I were sitting in the living room folding laundry when all of a sudden a fast moving thunder storm came. As the rain started to fall Brenna says, "The grass must be thirsty. Jesus is making it rain."

Apple Pie

2010-09-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

I made a pretty tasty apple pie from all those apples we picked!

Pumpkins, crisp mornings, and blowing noses

2010-09-22T05:38:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year! It is by far my most favorite season! Unfortunately we're through the cold and flu season summer break as well...it's back! BOO! I mention that because we're all sick again 2 days before we take a road trip down to North Carolina to visit my family...so figures! But I'm hoping we get through the worst of this nasty cold before we leave on Friday...and I just pray this yucky cold doesn't lead to ear infections, bad coughs, and all else that can sometimes make an appearance after the fact. A 16 hour drive with 3 young kids is intimidating enough! Add an illness to the mix...hmmm this could be quite a fun adventure!

Apple picking

2010-09-21T04:36:00.000-07:00

Apple picking is always something I look forward to ever year! This year the apples were a tad bit early. We didn't realize how early til we went to the orchard last week and most of the apples were already gone! We had to walk all the way to the back of the orchard to find our apples and it just so happens that the day was a tad bit wet and I slipped and fell rump first into a big yucky mud puddle! We all had a big laugh over that. I am such a klutz! But despite my rear end being covered in muddy muck it was a fun time and we came home with lots of yummy apples!

Sitting Up

2010-09-14T05:02:00.000-07:00

Look what my big girl can do now! Her newest skill...sitting up all by herself! I love it when they can finally sit up on their own! Makes mommy's job a lot easier!

Our first week of school

2010-09-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

A few snapshots of our first week of school! We are studying Apples, Creation, and the Letter A!

Bubbles

2010-09-11T05:15:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite parts of Lacey's birthday was making big bubbles! I found a recipe for the ultimate bubble solution and it worked great! A little on the sticky side though so definitely an outside activity!

The Ultimate Bubbles
1 part Dawn/Joy dish soap
10 parts water
.25 part Glycerine or White Karo Syrup

(We used Karo syrup and ended up putting much more then the recipe recommended. Couldn't tell you how much cause we just kept dumping it in until we were happy with the mixture. We decided on Karo because it is much cheaper then Glycerine but Glycerine is recommended. It supposedly works the best!)

Rubber Duckie

2010-09-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

Yummy! Rubber Duckies are tasty!

Time to blow out the Candles!

2010-09-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

All the girls were more then a little excited about birthday cake! And Lacey blew out her candles like a pro!!

Balloons

2010-09-08T04:33:00.001-07:00

My poor mother blew up 72 balloons all by herself but they were soo much fun!! Thanks Mom!! :)

Party Prep!

2010-09-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

The Centerpiece

The Cupcakes, party favors, and Brenna boo!

The cake I made! It turned out really good surprisingly!

Seeing a theme yet?

The Cupcakes

The balloon tree

The Swimming Pool

The Duck Pond/matching game

Lacey's Lake / Fishing game

Oh the joys of having a summer birthday! We were able to do so many fun things for Lacey's party! We played fun games like duck pond match and fishing and played in the pool and made giant Bubbles! Lacey has always been a fan of Ernie from Sesame Street so we did a rubber duckie themed party which I thought turned out great!

My Lacey Loo has turned two!

2010-09-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

Lacey on her 1st Birthday

The 2 year old Birthday Girl!

It's kind of hard to believe Lacey is two. I feel as if I lost so much time enjoying her being a baby. We've had a lot of changes in her first going on second year of life. New jobs, uncertainties, pregnancy, police academy...and then before I could catch my breath *poof* she's not a baby anymore! She's my big 2 year old! Another part of me feels like she's older then 2 though because she's so smart and grown for her age. She can have a complete conversation with you, and in many ways is exactly at the same place as her big sister developmentally...minus the definite 2 year old attention span and frustration tolerance! She has always been a mommy's girl although I have noticed she's growing out of that a little now that she's not the "baby". She has however discovered that she enjoys giving kisses and hugs and I can't tell you how special that makes Asa and I feel! It's special coming from her because she's never been the hug and kiss type. We use to run up to her and give her a BIG Kiss and she'd scream, "Nooo Noo Daddy!!" at the top of her lungs! haha Now she welcomes it and so do we!

Sleepy girl

2010-09-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

I never can resist taking a sleeping picture! My sweet little Holly.

Writing

2010-09-06T04:46:00.000-07:00

Brenna has recently shown lots of interest in writing lately. Most of the time she just makes a few zig zags and curly cues and then announces to me what it says! On this day however she announced in quite a excited tone, "Look mommy a Y and a O!" And the shock and then huge grin on my face made her laugh with such giddiness I couldn't help but join in! They really are a Y and an O! I just can't believe it! Yay Brenna Boo!!! She was awfully excited that I took a picture too! She knows when mama breaks out the camera she's done something super special!! haha

Oh the joys of 2!

2010-08-30T18:31:00.001-07:00

A little snippet of a daily...no hourly occurrence in the life of me! Now all we need is a picture of Brenna being a tattle tail and Holly spitting up for the 30th time all over my furniture and we would have the perfect description of my typical day! haha But regardless of my sweet Lacey's capricious moods, she is truly a joy! And I don't really mind Brenna's tattling most of the time either because it has had it's handy moments! haha Now if Holly would just grow out of spitting up stage life would be golden! Oh wait...then she will turn 2! Here we go again! :)

Let's go to the park!

2010-08-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

My girls love playing at the park! We usually don't go but once a week or so though. I really don't know why we don't go more to be honest! I guess I just write it off as not being worth it most days! Although they always have a blast...it can be hard getting them to leave not to mention Lacey is two...enough said :) hehe But I think I shall make it a point to take them more often from this point on...well until winter anyway. All too soon winter will be upon us and we'll be stuck inside. Boo! Might as well take advantage of the playgrounds while we still can!

She's eating baby food now!

2010-08-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

It just dawned on my that my little bitty baby is nearly 7 months old! *sigh* Where has the time gone! The past two weeks have been pretty big in my book in terms of babyhood for my miss Holly. She gotten her first ear infection (which was a not so pleasant milestone might I add) and she started on baby food! I had put it off. I was in no hurry and neither was she or so it seemed! And then one day the girls and I were eating apple slices and i thought..."hmm I wonder what Holly would do if I let her suck on my apple slice" and well she did exactly what I had hoped she'd do! Her face lit up like a Christmas tree! I knew that it was now time for baby food. So she's been eating applesauce, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, rice cereal, and now peas for the past two weeks and gets beyond excited every meal time! In another day or two I'll introduce her to something else yummy...maybe peaches or prunes! haha

Topsham Fair Petting Zoo

2010-08-24T16:57:00.001-07:00

Every year I try to take the girls to the Topsham fair. It's nothing big or elaborate. It doesn't even really have many rides for my girls because they are so small. Most of it is geared more for older kids. But one thing the fair does have that makes it worth going to is the petting zoo! They have cows, pigs, goats, llamas...pretty much any animal that you would find in a barnyard you can find at the petting zoo! Our favorite animal this year was the bunnies! Brenna in particular took quite an interest in them! Maybe next year Daddy will let us take one home! haha doubtful :O)

Brenna's First Haircut

2010-08-22T11:46:00.001-07:00

We finally got Brenna's hair cut. I was so proud of her! The mommy in me didn't know whether to rejoice or cry though. I loved her long hair! She loves her new hair cut however and I have to admit it is much easier to take care of. My big girl now looks like a big kid to me. Good bye pretty curls that I've played with since she was a baby...and hello my big girl who is growing up way too fast!

Painting...a summer past time!

2010-08-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

One of the wonderful things about summer is that we can do fun things like Paint! I know some brave moms out there who will let their kiddo's paint inside the house ...but not I! I've let them do watercolors like 3 or 4 times but that's it and they were under very CLOSE supervision! If there's one thing my girls know how to do...it's make a mess! I have enough messes to contend with without adding paint in the mix! The girls really love to paint though so when we get the chance I like to let them paint in the backyard. Not only is it enjoyable being outside but after it's all said and done I can just turn on the water hose and ~*~Walla~*~ the mess is gone! They initially started out painting with the brushes but in a matter of maybe 1 or 2 minutes they were painting with hands, elbows...haha End results: Some very colorful pictures, two really happy girls and a happy Mommy too!

Smiling Hill Farm continued...

2010-08-18T15:56:00.001-07:00

After we visited the animals we ordered lunch and the girls all played on the playground. They had a great time...all of the girls minus Holly! Yowza...she turned into a real grumpy pants while we were waiting on our food! We can thank a wacky sleep/nap schedule on that one but I did get a few cute pictures before she lost all composure!

Smiling Hill Farm

2010-08-16T04:22:00.001-07:00

On one of our last days of camp we took all the kiddo's to Smiling Hill Farm to look at all of the animals. What a neat place that was!

The Cousins cousins

2010-08-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

Aren't they precious!!! Eli was fascinated by Holly! He thought she was the coolest toy ever! haha

Camp

2010-08-15T09:32:00.001-07:00

Every year it's a tradition with the Cousins family to rent a camp for a week or two during the summer. This year we were in a little cabin in South Paris! It was a beautiful two weeks with nearly perfect weather minus a few thunderstorms here and there and we had a really nice time. Every few days the girls still ask if we're going back to camp. They had a blast!

Our Family

2010-08-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

Brenna's picture of our family :)

Your a what?!

2010-08-03T05:24:00.001-07:00

Sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words! The girls love their bath time. It's a wonderful time to play! One night I walked into the bathroom and I came upon this! Lacey smiled at me and said, "Look Mama I a snooooowman!" I couldn't help but break out in giggles and grab my camera of course!

Boothbay Railway Museum

2010-08-01T06:02:00.001-07:00

There are so many fun places to go in Maine with your family! I have two favorite places the first being Gray Animal farm, and the second is the Boothbay Railway Museum! It's such a neat little place! As a child my Grandy was a avid collector of model Lionel trains. So from some of my earliest memories trains were special and important! So I couldn't help but reminisce about my own childhood and my Grandy as we took a ride on the train and walked through the model train display. Oh how lovely it would have been to share this with him. In my mind I can see him holding Brenna's hand and having a lively conversation about trains. Oh the untapped knowledge! I can only imagine all the factoids he could have filled our heads with! He would have been the perfect companion this day! What's amazing about the Boothbay Railway Museum is that it is filled to the brim with historic things. The "village" is full of actual antique houses that were relocated there. There is an old church, an old grocery store, an old school house and so on all filled with antiques from way back when. The girls loved the Salt and Pepper house filled with quite an impressive collection of salt and pepper shakers! There is also a pretty neat antique car collection that is AMAZING! The train ride was most definitely the highlight for Brenna though! And the engine is an actual retired train that was used in the Maine woods to carry logs out of the woods! Very cool! Lacey wasn't so excited about the train though. The whistle was very loud and she was not a fan!

Beach Weather

2010-07-31T16:27:00.001-07:00

There is nothing I love more then spending my days at the ocean! Granted I don't partake in this passion much. I am greatly outnumbered! But when the weather is warm and Asa is off of work and willing, I adore spending time by the sea! The girls are very fond of the sand. Neither are to interested in the ocean as of yet. They have some trepidations about the waves and I'm sure the FREEZING Maine water doesn't help much either! But as long as their content, so am I! Hopefully we'll get another few trips to the beach in August while the warmth lasts!

Going to Camp

2010-07-17T15:44:00.001-07:00

Almost 6 months old! My cutie is getting Big!!

Alas our Cousins "camp" trip is upon us! We leave tomorrow after church for 2 weeks of family time by the lake! The only real downside to the whole camp thing is no internet. So that means no email and NO blogging! YIKES! So unless I can some how pick up some wireless single somewhere you guys are gonna just have to wait around til August for some more pictures of our sweetie pies! We are all so excited!! And I have to admit, I am sooo looking forward to minimal house work :) No cloth diapers...not having to cook 1 to 2 meals a day......this is gonna be paradise!!! As long as I can get all the girls to sleep in the same room (hmmm...maybe another downside...lol) we should be golden!

Our July 4th weekend

2010-07-16T04:25:00.001-07:00

I love these pictures so much! My Brenna Boo loves her baby sister! It's not a challenge getting a picture of these two at all! It's the illusive Lacey that I always have to catch by surprise! These pictures were actually the only two pictures I took the entire July 4th holiday! So not normal for me I know! I guess I just get slack on the picture taking when my sister in law is around. hehe She loves taking pictures just like me! But she has more experience and a better camera so it sorta turns into her job when we have family get togethers which is soo okay with me! It's not always the easiest task to get a few good shots when I have a baby in tow. It is kind of limiting! And oh my goodness did Angie get some good shots! Here's a preview of her cute pictures! If you want to see more from our July 4th weekend check out her blog! A Giggle A Day

Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse

2010-07-14T05:55:00.001-07:00

With Asa's new schedule he has a lot more days off. Certainly nothing to complain about! Asa however HATES being stuck at home. He gets stir crazy! I'm not the biggest fan of being stuck at home either but it's been sort of a reality I've accepted over the past year. But lucky for us, because of his stir craziness almost every weekend since he's been back from academy we get out and do something! A few weeks back on a not so sunny weekend day we decided to take a road trip with the girls to Rockland, Maine. We had a nice lunch at a small restaurant in down town Rockland and then headed over to Breakwater Lighthouse. I had never been there before and really had no idea what to expect. I guess I envisioned in my mind a light house like we have from my home state North Carolina. It wasn't like that at all...It's more like a house with a fog horn! And as soon as I saw how we had to get there...my insides slightly panicked! Not the most child friendly site. But I figured the walk couldn't possibly be that long right? It was so foggy it was easy to think that...boy was I wrong...it just kept going and going. It had to be at least a mile of walking on these huge cut granite rocks to get out to the light house! If I had only known...oh well. All is well that ends well I suppose! No one got hurt! And to be honest I was just as nervous about myself falling as I was the girls (because I am a klutz extraordinaire after all!) I would like to go back on a sunny not so foggy day some time but I will definitely never ever take 3 kiddo's 3 years old and under to Breakwater EVER again! The next trip will be child free most definitely!

Summer Breeze

2010-07-14T04:40:00.001-07:00

Holly enjoying the nice warm weather! We just love to lay a big blanket out underneath the tree in the backyard! Ever since Brenna was a baby it's been our summer/ fall tradition and on breezy days it's the perfect baby entertainment! You know how babies are fascinated by ceiling fans? Well thousands of leaves blowing in the wind has the same effect but better! Not to mention it's relaxing for Me too!

Sparklers

2010-07-11T14:57:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back we had a family dinner at Nonnie and Grampy's. After supper we all went outside and enjoyed the mild evening with a nice fire and sparklers! It was tons of fun...well until Lacey decided it would be fun to touch the sparkler in a not so good place...my poor baby. She recovered quickly enough but I don't believe she'll get closer then 10 feet to a sparkler for some time!

Good Morning Surprise

2010-07-06T18:32:00.001-07:00

Lookie what Daddy brought us! Our favorite treat!

Father's Day

2010-07-05T18:59:00.000-07:00

Father's Day this year wasn't so wonderful for Asa. Why you might ask?! He was TIRED! Sooo tired! One downside to having a crazy schedule I suppose...but even through his exhaustion he took time to cuddle with his little girl! Boy does she love her Daddy!

A Walk on the Bike Path

2010-07-05T18:37:00.001-07:00

Some pictures from our walk on the bike path. We don't walk very often. It's quite a challenge pushing the girls and holding the baby in the sling. It's a workout! And after the 20th time of picking up dropped passys and the 200th time of somebody wanting to walk or stop at a bench or someone needing to use the potty...I'm sure you can understand why I find it much more enjoyable to enjoy an afternoon at the park or in our nice fenced in back yard!

Sammy

2010-06-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the girls with their best pal from church Sammy! Unfortunately because of the Brunswick Naval Air Station closing, Sam and her family had to relocate to Florida this month. Such wonderful and sweet people! We will miss them so much! God truly blessed not only our family but many other families just by knowing them! Sammy was in particular a huge blessing for me because she was such a help with the girls. For nearly two years of the three that I have been attending our church my husband was working Sundays. Sammy was always there to help entertain and I dare say corral my little ones! She is such a natural with little ones and will make an awesome mommy one day I'm sure!

Going to work

2010-06-19T16:41:00.001-07:00

Brenna walked up to me while I was doing the dishes and told me that she was "going to work!" I wonder what kind of work she's referring too? Maybe the work of dumping out all the dress up clothes and blocks to find Daddy's hat that she had on her cute little head? haha

Auntie Ann

2010-06-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

Auntie Ann holding Lacey when she was a year old!
Auntie Ann and Lacey at Asa's Graduation
Auntie Ann holding Holly <3

I wanted to ask for everyone's prayers for our dear Auntie Ann. She fainted and fell last week for what they believe now was either dehydration, possibly some medication she takes or maybe both. She hit her head pretty hard and is now suffering from severe headaches. Auntie Ann is one of the sweetest most caring people I know. She has had a hard year with her health and my heart just aches knowing how much she is hurting right now. Please pray for her that her headaches will go away and that there will be no more ill affects from her fall. We were so blessed to have her come up to Donald's graduation this past month. I can't tell you how much we enjoyed spending time with her and Bob! Lacey absolutely adores Auntie Ann! As I was looking back at some of the older pictures I have from when Lacey was younger...it does appear Lacey has always loved her! Please lift her, Bob, and their entire family up in your prayers tonight and every night if you can!

A trip to Lands End

2010-06-18T16:53:00.001-07:00

Smile!

2010-06-17T17:51:00.001-07:00

We just took our little peanut for her 4 month baby check up yesterday. She's a little over 14 pounds and a whopping 25 and a half inches long! Won't be long and she'll be rolling over!

Fishing with Daddy

2010-06-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Asa took Brenna and Lacey on a fishing trip on the Androscoggin river. The baby and I stayed at home. Our little boat just isn't big enough for the whole family! :) So I wasn't expecting to get any pictures what so ever for obvious reasons. Well it turned out that while they were at the river a few ducks decided to be friendly which is pretty rare up here. Little do those poor duckies know, some of their very close relatives have probably occupied our freezer at one point or another! But the ducks seemed oblivious to Asa's true identity of duck hunter extraordinaire and the girls were able to feed the ducks some of their snack (goldfish) which the ducks and the girls loved. And an added bonus for me, Asa snapped these photos with his phone!

Badge Pinning

2010-06-14T08:53:00.001-07:00

Last Monday the city of Auburn had a special badge pinning ceremony and reception for all the new police officers. Brenna was so excited about going to "daddy's party!" as she called it. We got all dressed up and she even carried her own little purse! It was so nice to finally meet all of the people that make the Auburn Police Department so special! But I have to admit that it was a little nerve racking being surrounded by all those police officers! I'm a horrible driver...or so I've been told *cough* ASA *cough* so i guess I've formed a type of fear of police officers because I don't want to embarrass Asa. So my nerves were a little wired when I had to follow Asa in his patrol car...especially considering the chief and deputy chief were driving right behind me! :) But I'm happy to say I didn't drive like a bone head and we had a wonderful evening!

purple toes

2010-06-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

For Christmas my step mommy sent the girls some wonderful nail polish that they just LOVE! Who doesn't love glitter?! We now have blue, red, silver, and purple glitter polish as you can tell! The girls think it's GREAT! Brenna, Lacey and Mama (me!) are all sporting some purple glitter polish today! :) Aren't Brenna's tootsies cute!

Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home!

2010-06-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

During Lacey's nap time we decided to release the lady bugs! I thought it would be best to let the lady bugs out while Lacey slept considering her personal mission in life seems to be to squash every bug she can get close to. It was a beautiful day to let the lady bugs go. The lady bugs have stuck around I guess for a little over 2 weeks now and they have been eating all the little pests that were going after our cucumbers. So not only did we have such a fun time watching the lady bugs grow, wehelped Daddy with his garden too!

The Desert of Maine

2010-06-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

We have a desert in Maine! :) It's not a very big desert although the history of it is very interesting. The girls loved riding behind the jeep and the day was absolutely gorgeous! The tour was short and sweet which was more then perfect with the girls rather short attention spans. I guess the only down side is that it was a tad bit over priced for what it was...but hey at least all the girls were free!

Flower Chains

2010-06-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

Our yard is full of clover flowers! I remember as a child picking all the clover flowers and making flower chains, necklaces, bracelets, and so on. The other day as I was watching the girls picking flowers and playing in the back yard I had a flashback of doing the same as a child and pretending to be the Princess of Flowers! So I made the girls flower crowns and flower necklaces! They looked awfully cute wearing them but I suppose the idea was more sentimental then anything. Not even five minutes after the girls put on the flower jewelry, they were bored of it and were ready to go inside. Oh well...made for a cute picture anyway!

A Day's wort h of Dipes

2010-06-05T16:31:00.001-07:00

My Mother's Day Gift with a day worth of diapers drying in the sun :)

Our lady bugs have arrived!

2010-06-05T09:28:00.001-07:00

Every year I love doing fun things like grow butterflies, tad poles, and so on with the girls. It's a fun and an easy way to learn about the world around us. Well this year we decided it would be fun to do Lady Bugs! A few weeks back we got our lady bug larvae in the mail. I grew up loving lady bugs but interestingly enough I had never seen them looking any differently then the cute little red beetle with black spots! So when we got the lady bug larvae arrived in the mail I was a tad bit grossed out! Yes I knew they were suppose to come that way...but they still looked yucky none the less! I'm just glad they were kept in an enclosed lady bug dome so I didn't have to worry about one of those things getting to close to comfort! Despite my little aversion the girls absolutely loved the lady bugs! They loved them so much that the poor "baby" lady bugs took quite a few tumbles thanks to a little clumsiness and a LOT of sibling rivalry(which is why I usually have 2 of everything). So eventually our little bugs had to be relocated to a somewhat safer and higher location and I'm happy to say lady bugs are very tough little critters!

Maggie

2010-06-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

My niece Maggie is a wonderful little girl! We love her so much and I guess she loves us too! :)

Officially 4 months old today!

2010-06-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Can you believe my newest little one is already 4 months old!! Time sure does fly when your having fun! Holly is the easiest and the happiest baby I have ever seen! She started sleeping through the night around 2 months old, hardly ever cries, and is pretty much smiling 24/7. Just this past week she discovered that she can make noises so now not only is she flashing that adorable toothless grin but she is also talking all the time too! She'll look at me, grin, and then go "aaaaaahhh!!!" And then grin again of course! She sure has made up for the difficult pregnancy ten fold! She's Amazing! But then again...I think all of my girls are! :) I am blessed beyond measure!

Playing House

2010-06-03T09:15:00.001-07:00

~*~They love playing with each other! Best Friends!~*~

Memorial Day Parade

2010-06-02T11:02:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to the memorial day parade in down town Brunswick. This years parade was held special significance in my heart though because of the loss of Dave in March. We had a wonderful time! I just hope that next year Asa might be able to come too! He was sleeping this year :)

Sprinkler time!

2010-05-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

We've had some abnormally hot days this month! 80 degrees in May is normally not heard of up here in Maine. So to beat the heat we brought out the sprinkler for the first time this year. What fun! Brenna was really into it from the moment I turned it on. It took Lacey a little bit longer. She got wet eventually but she's just a tad bit more dainty the Brenna Boo. Lacey would walk up to the water slowly and touch it with a pail or shovel and then run away. Brenna would run up to the actual sprinkler and SIT on it or stick her tongue out trying to get water in her mouth which consequently resulted in water spraying all in her face not that she minded! As you can tell from the picture, I don't think she could have smiled any wider!

Potty Time

2010-05-30T13:18:00.001-07:00

Look at my big girl! Yay Lacey! She has officially peed on the potty....well once! hehe It's so exciting that she's taken such an early interest in using the big girl potty with much thanks I'm sure to her big sissy being a potty expert! I'm trying to encourage her as much as I can but quite honestly some days I'd just rather her stick to the diapers. Yes I know that sounds odd...but let me explain. Right now using the potty is a novelty for her. She never really has to go when she yells "PEE PEE POTTY!!!". She really just wants to sit on the princess potty seat, smile, and be like her big sister. The ONE time she peed was more of a fluke then anything. And the biggest reason why I'm not the most excited about her current potty interest at times? She only has to "go" when i'm nursing the baby, or cooking dinner, or in the middle of a poopy diaper change....basically she only has to go potty during the most inconvenient times EVER! But regardless of her motives or her not so awesome timing, I am so proud of her for trying. Brenna was afraid of the big potty for months! We had to use the training potty which as all of you with little ones know isn't the most fun! I suppose in a few months we might try to more aggressively potty train but at this point, I'm just taking it easy and encouraging her whenever I can. I think training her will happen pretty naturally with a big sister and we may not have to be that aggressive at all! That would be pretty cool! :)

Playing With Grampy

2010-05-29T09:47:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of the girls playing with their grampy in the backyard. They had such a good time playing with him. They always do! :) They love their Grampy!